Related Research Articles
Tantra is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards in both Hinduism and Buddhism.
Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ haṭha literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some hatha yoga style techniques can be traced back at least to the 1st-century CE, in texts such as the Hindu Sanskrit epics and Buddhism's Pali canon. The oldest dated text so far found to describe hatha yoga, the 11th-century Amṛtasiddhi, comes from a tantric Buddhist milieu. The oldest texts to use the terminology of hatha are also Vajrayana Buddhist. Hindu hatha yoga texts appear from the 11th century onward.
Tantric sex or sexual yoga refers to a range of practices in Hindu and Buddhist tantra that utilize sexual activity in a ritual or yogic context. Tantric sex is associated with antinomian elements such as the consumption of alcohol, and the offerings of substances like meat to deities. Moreover, sexual fluids may be viewed as power substances and used for ritual purposes, either externally or internally.
Sādhanā is an ego-transcending spiritual practice in Indian religions. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.
The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, founded in 1997 and based in Oxford, England, is a research academy focused on the study and teaching of Hindu cultures of India and Nepal. It develops academic programmes of education, research and publishing in Hindu studies. It aims to encourage the Hindu community in the academic study of their own traditions and cultures. From 2006 to 2020, it was granted the status of a "recognised independent centre" working with the University of Oxford.
The Kāpālika tradition was a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in Medieval India between the 4th and 8th century CE. The word is derived from the Sanskrit term kapāla, meaning "skull", and kāpālika can be translated as the "skull-men" or "skull-bearers".
Swami Janakananda Saraswati is a tantric yoga and meditation teacher and a writer, who has had a noted influence in the dissemination of yoga and meditation in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. He is the oldest active sannyasin disciple of Satyananda Saraswati in Europe.
Maithuna is a Sanskrit term for sexual intercourse within Tantra, or alternatively for the sexual fluids generated or the couple participating in the ritual. It is the most important of the Panchamakara and constitutes the main part of the grand ritual of Tantra also known as Tattva Chakra. Maithuna means the union of opposing forces, underlining the nonduality between human and divine, as well as worldly enjoyment (kama) and spiritual liberation (moksha). Maithuna is a popular icon in ancient Hindu art, portrayed as a couple engaged in physical loving.
Vimalaprabhā is a Sanskrit word that means "The Radiance of Purity", or "Drimé Ö". This 11th-century Tibetan Buddhist text is a commentary to the Kālacakra Tantra. The Vimalaprabhā is attributed to Shambhala King Pundarika. It is composed in Sanskrit and consists of 12,000 lines of text. Manuscripts of the work have survived in the libraries of Tibetan monasteries and Indian libraries.
Hindu denominations, sampradayas, traditions, movements, and sects are traditions and sub-traditions within Hinduism centered on one or more gods or goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and so on. The term sampradaya is used for branches with a particular founder-guru with a particular philosophy.
Madhu Khanna is an Indian scholar based in Delhi who works on Indic studies, Religious Studies and Tantric studies. She is a well-known expert on the goddess centric Śakta tantric traditions of India. At present she serves as the Director and founding trustee of Tantra Foundation and Shrikunja. She is also currently serving as a subject expert to the Acarya Shankar Sanskritik Ekta Nyas, set up by the culture department of the Madhya Pradesh government for their Omkareshwar Project. At present she also serves in the academic council of Nalanda University and in the fellowship council of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla. She has many research papers as well as several books and exhibition catalogues to her credit. She has contributed to three national projects, as well as several research projects for the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
Sir James Mallinson, 5th Baronet, of Walthamstow is a British Indologist, writer and translator. He is Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford, and recognised as one of the world's leading experts on the history of medieval Hatha yoga.
The Vivekamārtaṇḍa is an early Hatha yoga text, the first to combine tantric and ascetic yoga. Attributed to Goraknath, it was probably written in the 13th century. It emphasises mudras as the most important practice. The name means "Sun of Discernment". It teaches khecarīmudrā, mahāmudrā, viparītakaraṇī and the three bandhas. It teaches six chakras and the raising of Kundalinī by means of "fire yoga" (vahniyogena).
The Dattātreyayogaśāstra, a Vaisnava text probably composed in the 13th century CE, is the earliest text which provides a systematized form of Haṭha yoga under that name, and the earliest to place its yoga techniques under the name Haṭha.
The Yogabīja is an early Haṭha yoga text, from around the 14th century. It was the first text to propose the derivation of haṭha from the Sanskrit words for sun and moon, with multiple esoteric interpretations.
The Khechari Vidya, an early tantric text on Hatha yoga written around the 14th century, teaches only khecarīmudrā, one of several yogic seals or mudras, and is a major source for that method. This was meant to give the yogin access to stores of amrita in the body, and to raise Kundalinī via the six chakras.
The Gorakṣaśataka is an early text on Haṭha yoga text from the 11th-12th century, attributed to the sage Gorakṣa. It was the first to teach a technique for raising Kundalini called "the stimulation of Sarasvati", along with elaborate pranayama, breath control. It was written for an audience of ascetics.
Eva Skafte Jensen is a Danish linguist and researcher at the Danish Language Council.
Tvarita is a goddess primarily featured in Tantric Hinduism. She is depicted to be a member of the group of fifteen yoginis called the nityas, and an aspect of Adi Parashakti.
Sravana Borkataky-Varma is a historian and educator. She is the Instructional Professor in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Houston. She is currently a Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. She has previously taught at Harvard University, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the University of Montana and Rice University.
References
- ↑ Dr Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen | The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
- ↑ Dr Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen Theology Department, Oxford University
- ↑ Śākta Traditions
- ↑ "Bjarne Wernicke Olesen - Forskning - Aarhus Universitet". Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ↑ "Bjarne Wernicke Olesen - Forskningsprojekter - Forskning - Aarhus Universitet". Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ↑ "Bjarne Wernicke Olesen - Aktiviteter - Forskning - Aarhus Universitet". Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ↑ Forfatter beskrivelse: Bjarne Wernicke Olesen
- ↑ Gudernes sprog. Klassisk sanskrit på dansk | Forlaget Univers
